Tangy Orange Chicken with Green Bean Mandarin Salad

I made a orange chicken that had a bit of a kick to it. With a green bean salad on the side. It was a great dinner....

Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
white pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon ginger root, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red chili pepper
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Orange Sauce for Stir Fry:

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 orange, zest of

Directions:

It is easier to prepare the orange sauce first. Put soy sauce, water, sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest in a bowl. Whisk it up and set aside. In a large bowl stir together egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of the oil and mix well. Stir cornstarch and flour together. Mix flour mixture and egg mixture. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat. Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep-fryer to 375 degrees. Add chicken, small batches at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp. (Do not overcook chicken). Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside.

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant; about 10 seconds. Add and stir-fry crushed chiles and green onions. Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds. Add Orange Sauce and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water into remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth and add to chicken. Heat until sauce is thickened. Stir in sesame oil last minute. Take off heat and serve over rice.

Green Bean Mandarin Salad

1/2lb fresh green beans
1 can of mandarin oranges
Ground pepper (lightly to taste )
Olive oil to drizzle
Balsamic Vinegar

Clean green beans. Boil green beans to al dente. Throw green beans in large bowl of cold ice water. Drain. Add can of mandarin juice and all. Toss in pepper and oil. When green beans are well coated add Balsamic vinegar to taste. Serve cold.

Slimy fun

My daughter had no school today due to the district having a half a day. She is only in half a day kindergarten so they just give them the day off for both A.M. and P.M. Though we were both feeling under the weather I didn't want the day wasted in front of the TV. I got this recipe for slime from our visit to the Boston Museum of Science. It's super easy and fun.

All you need is borax, water, food coloring, and glue. You can use white glue for a creamy looking slime or the clear glue. We used white glue, I buy two for a dollar at the Dollar Tree since we are using the entire bottle.

1) First take a cup of water and dissolve a teaspoon of borax right in the measuring cup.
2) In a bowl empty the bottle of glue then add a half cup water.
3) Add food coloring and stir it up.
4) Then add the borax mixture.
5) Stir it up.
6) Once you see it sticking together start kneading it with your hands.
7) Once a majority if not all the liquid is soaked in you are all set to play with it.

Things happen quickly so this takes minutes. Luckily it cleans up easily. Just make sure your kiddos don't flick the slime around like my daughter did. Still it wasn't terrible to clean. It's what I get thinking I could leave her with it while I folded laundry.

Rescue From The Attic

Rescued from my parent's attic was a doll I had when I was young. She was a mess to say the least. The poor doll's hair looked like rats had made a nest and was living in it since 1994. The sad thing was I had already tried saving this doll once already. But today I tried something that actually worked. I used a Magic Eraser on her face, arms, and legs. I suggest that if you are going to try this to test an area first as I have heard Magic Erasers can take shine off of surfaces. Then I added about 2 or 3 Tablespoons of fabric softener to a spray bottle of water. I shook it to get the fabric softener mixed well with the water. Then I sprayed it all over the doll's hair. Using a wig comb, I had one for my daughter's American Girl dolls, I worked in small sections slowly  brushing from the bottom up. It came out great. Her hair looks almost as good as the day I got her decades ago. I have a few of my daughter's Barbies that are going to get their hair done next.

Crescent Roll Tacos

Many years ago, when I was about 16 or so, I went to a Pampered Chef party hosted by a friend of my mom. There were so many great items but one stuck out. A pizza stone. They made these delicious tacos stuffed inside crescent rolls. My mom and I both loved the tacos we bought the pizza stone and had to make the Crescent roll tacos as soon as we got the pizza stone. My mom and I have been making them ever since. Thought I would share the recipe with you....
Crescent Roll Tacos
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or taco cheese (4 ounces, so like a half of the typical 8oz bags)
2 tablespoons water
2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
Directions:
Cook ground beef in large skillet over medium heat 7-9 minutes or until beef is no longer pink; drain. Remove pan from heat and stir in taco seasoning mix, cheese and water.
Preheat oven to 375F. Unroll crescent dough; separate into triangles. Arrange triangles in a circle on pizza stone with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward outside. (There should be a 5 inch diameter opening in center.) I use my Pampered Chef pizza stone, but any flat round pan should work--perhaps even a pizza sheet, but I'd spray it with Pam before adding the crescent rolls. Remember when using a pizza stone to preheat the stone. Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center of ring. (Filling will not be completely covered).
Bake at 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup for Lunch

I fell in love with Panera Bread's Broccoli Cheddar Soup when I was pregnant with my now 6 year old daughter. There was a Panera Bread across the parking lot from my work. I would get the Broccoli Cheddar Soup almost every other day. My mom had come across a copycat recipe and we together tried it out. The first time we over pureed it so be careful. I used a hand mixer right in the pot and just chopped up the large chunks of broccoli. I also bought the carrots already julienned and the sharp cheddar in the bag shredded. Also, the first time we had made it we used white cheese but the orange cheddar is needed. You can taste the difference! Here is the recipe.....

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar

Directions

Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half (this is called making a roux). Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes.

Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Pour in batches into blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve.
I hope this comes out as good as the second attempt. It taste spot on with the orange cheddar.

Mongolian Beef

Made a dish that I wasn't too sure how it was going to taste. My husband helped me by cooking the meat and we cut the prep time down in half. This is all prep work, the meat cooks so fast since the meat is so thin. My husband said it was the best thing I've made.

Mongolian Beef Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise (I used sirloin tips cut into thin strips)

1/4 cup of cornstarch

3 teaspoons of canola oil

1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)

1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

Prepare the meat:

First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch (see picture bellow).

Make the sauce:

Heat half of the oil in a large wok at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later.

Cook the meat and assemble dish:

Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.

Serve it hot with rice.

It was amazing, too spicy for the kidlet, but the adults loved it.

Bruins Game Reese's Trifle

Tonight is the Boston Bruins vs the Tampa Bay Lightening. As we are watching the game, I was making something sweet to have for the 3rd half. I made a Reese's Trifle, trifles are my husbands favorite kind of deserts. Here's how I did it....

There is a brownies layer, a whip cream layer, a peanut butter layer, a chocolate pudding layer, and I toss a bag of Reese's minis chopped in half on top.

Start by making the brownies, I did this in a 9x13 pan as I find it easy to crumble. Then make the pudding, I made 2 boxes of chocolate pudding though I didn't use all of it.

For the whip cream layer....
2 cups Heavy Cream
3-4 Tb granulated sugar

Beat heavy cream and sugar together on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  Stick bowl in the fridge until you are ready to put in trifle dish

Peanut Butter Layer
2 cup creamy peanut butter
16oz of whipped cream cheese, softened
2 cup powdered sugar
4 Tb milk

Beat peanut butter and cream cheese together until creamy.  Add powdered sugar and mix well.  Add 2 Tb of milk.  Take 1 cup of your whip cream mixture from the fridge and fold it into the peanut butter mixture until just combined.

Now layer the brownies, chocolate pudding, then peanut butter mixture, then whipped cream. Do this twice then toss the chopped Reese's on top. There you have it. Enjoy!

I'm going to watch the rest of the game and eat this trifle.